Reversible centrifugal pump



Spt.- 22, 1931. E. J. RQUTHMAN 1,824,409

REVERSIBLE CENTRIFUGAL PUMP Original Filed June 4, 1926 Patented Sept. 22, 1931 e' rsnr IoFFlcE- EDWARD R TnMAn, or cm mmm; oHIo by I REVERSIBLE CENTRIFUGAIi PUMP Original application filed June 4, 1926, SeriaLNo.

.An object in this invention is to provide a visible. packless pump wherein perfect hydrostatic balance is attained, so thatthe bearings are kept free of the cutting lubricant to be pumped without requiring, the interposi tion of packing elements.

Another object is to provide a device of the class referred to wherein there is rovided a self-contained and visible feed In ri- 16 eating mechanism for, supplying lubricant to the bearing parts thereof.

These and other objects are attained by means described herein and disclosed in the accompanying drawings, in which;

Fig. 1, is a cross sectional elevation-of a device of my invention. 7, t

Fig. 2, isa cross sectionalview on line 2 2 ofFig.1.. a V The device of myinvention comprises a 3 lower casing 7 havinginlet perforations 8 which in the embodiment disclosed herein are located in the wall of the central depression or well ,9, which isin open communication with the hollow interior 10. The casing 7 has an extended portion 11. over which the discharge opening 12 in cover 13 is positioned. The cover 13 is. secured upon casing. 7 by means of suitable cap screws 14. A tubular upright memberlfi which is pref- 3o erably formed integral'withthe cover member 13 is shouldered atits upper end as at 16 to receive the lower end of a housing 17 within which the vertical impeller shaft 18 is journaled in ball bearings 19 and 20. p

The bearing 20 has its outer race seated upon shoulder 21 within the housing 17 and is retained by a depending inner flange 22 of acover cap 23. The vertical impeller shaft 18 has a bevel gear 24 keyed to it and abutting 0 the lower face of the inner race of bearing 20. The upper free end of the shaft 18 extends through and above the top face of bearing 20 and receives suitable lock nuts 25 which abut the upper face of the inner race of bear- 45 ing 20. A'shoulder 26 on shaft 18 is adapted to receive a cup-shaped member 27, the lower edge of which is placed into. an annular groove 28 in a small impeller 29 havingradial impeller blades 30 on the lower face thereof 1 50 and forming part of a sight feed lubricating 113,793. Divided and this application filed l'une 5,

192a. 'Serial N0.1282,532.

systemwfor the gears and bearings. The i11 her race of bearing 19 seats upon the member 27 and receives its upperface a washer 31 which I precludes. too free passage of oil through the bearing 19. A sleeve 32 surrounds shaft 18 and extends between bevel gear 24 and washer 31. From the foregoing it will be apparent that-when the parts mentioned are positioned on the shaft 18 andlock nuts .25 are tightened, the parts will all be clamped-between the shoulder 26 and nuts and'will rotate with the shaft.

The housing 17 is enlarged adjacent its lower end to form an oil well 33 having a sight opening 34 covered by a. plate of glass or celluloid 35 suitably secured thereover by means of a frame 36 and screws 37. The up..- right member 15 has an enlarged bore 38 and a restricted bore 39 in its upper end whereby to form a shoulder '40. Asleeve 41, is pressed into bore 38 and seating upon shoulder 40 extends upwardly through the small impeller 29 and cup shapedmember 27 and thus" forms an inner cylindrical wall for the oil well 33. The cup-shaped member 27 1s perforated as at 42 adjacent the top edge of-tube 41 and these perforations determine theoil level for the lubricant well 33 and also preclude capillary action between the inner wall ofmember 27 and the outer wall of tube '41 from siphoning the oil out of the well 33 and between shaft 18 and the inner wall of tube 41. A "groove 43 surround ing tube 41 is placed in communication with the oil well 33 by meansof perforations 44 and 45in order to permit passage of the oil .from the oil well to the impeller blades, on the small impeller 29. A small pipe 46 extends through the oil well 33 andhas its lower end' in communication with the outlet 47 of thelubricant pump and has its upper end 48 communicating with the hollow interior of the housing 17 above the top of hearing 19.. The washer 31 precludes the oil pumped into the bottom of housing 17 to how directly throughthe bearing into the well 33, sothat the oil will rise for a distance in the bottom of the'housing 17 and maintain a level determined by the overflow 49 which communicates with the well 33 by means of bearings 56 spaced by a collar 57 is carried,

by the shaft intermediate the flange 58 on the pulley and the bevel gear 54 and the inner races of said bearings and also the sleeve are clamped in position by a nut 59 on the shaft 53-, the outer races of the bearings 56 are free to float and the entire structure com prising the wall and shaft and parts carried thereby are retained in position by a flanged retaining member 60 which is secured to housing 17 by-suitablescrews such as 61. The

' retaining member 60 has at its outer end an inwardly turned flange 62. The inner peripheral edge of the flange '62 is provided with a grove 63 and the inner wall of the retaining member 60 has at its lower level a channel 64communicating'with the groove '63 in t'he eclge'of the flange thereof. The groove 63 collects the superfluous oil and pr rmits it to return by way of channel 64 to the oil chamber above the washer 31 in the housing 17. It should be noted that the outer racesof the bearings 56 and also of the bearing 19 are free floating while the outer race of the bearing 2O is retained against movement- Theyoperation of the above described I portion of the device is as followsz The oil well 33'is fil-led with oil through the enlarged threaded upper endof the passage 50 and a threaded plug 65 is inserted therein. Power is supplied by a belt passing over the pulley 52 and the bevel gear 54 thereon which in turn T'otatesthe bevel gear 24 anddrives the vertical shaft 18. small auxiliary impeller 29 pumpsoil from the oil well 33 up through pipe 46 and fills that portion 'of l housing 17 immediatelvabove the washer 31 up to the level of the overflow '49. The rapidly revolving bevel gear 54 revolves in the'pocket of oil above the washer 31 and effectively throws the oil to all of the bear in'gs and also lubricates the gears. The returning oil is precluded from seepage by the collecting groove 63 and is returned by way of channel 64-into said oil .pocket and flows through overflow 49, and passage 50 and returns to the well 33. The heightof the oil in the oil well as well as the return flow of :oilare visible through the glass or celluloid '35 so that it is possible to tell at aglance "whether or not'thebearings ofthe pump'are t5bei1 g Properly lubricated. A drain P ffluid to be pumped 'to find its normal level when the discharge is throttled down or shut June 4, 1926.

66 is provided in the bore 45 below the impeller for cleaning the pump. A removable plug 67 in the top of cap 23 permits entry of a cleaning fluid such as kerosene or the like in order to cleanse the working mech- 9 anism of the pump without dismantling it. In operation the pump in the embodiment disclosed would be submerged in a pan of cutting lubricant or the like up to the level in- 'di'cat'ed by the line 'on the tubular pori 5 tion 15 and a suitable conduit would be coupled at '7 9 to carry the lubricant to the desired place Such discharge conduits (not shown) are usually provided with shut-off valves in order to regulate the flow and also to stop the flow if desired. When power is applied to the pulley 52 the bevel gears 54 and 24 will impart high speed .rotation to the shaft 18 and the impeller '68. The cutting lubricant or cooling medium in the pan (not shown) which entered into the hollow interior 10 of the casing 7 through the perforations '8 will be thrown outwardly by the parallel faces 75 of the impeller blades 73 and will thus force a substantial volume of Inbricant at a suitable pressure through the discharge port 12 and into the conduit (not shown).

Among the particular advantages of pumps constructed in accordance with the present invention are the following: The pump requires no priming and the flow therefrom may be throttled or shut off without stopping the pump. This makes the device particularly adaptable for supplying :a cooling inedi-umr tocutt-ing tools of machine tools.

Th'estream is steady "and free from pulsations and from air bubbles. Another a'dvantage lies in the fact-that by reason of the parallel fa'ces bet-ween impeller blades, the pump is reversible andequal ly efficient when rotated in either direction.

A special advantage not found in other pumps lie's'in the fact "that the casing 7 may be replaced by acontainer casing 'havingzan intake conduit connected with a supply of fluid in "which *case the pump may be disposedoutside of the pan and in any convenient location. in such cases the highest level of the remote supply of lubricant or cooling'medium-shouldbe on a level with the line 100 onthetubular member 15. Air passage 80 in the tubular member 15 permitsthe off while the impeller is in operation. A

pump constructed as disclosed herein and having an impeller ofabout-six inches in diameterhasa capacitysof 53lgallons per min- 1. 'ute at a 14 foot head when the pump is rotatting at the rate-of 400 'R. P. M.

This application-is a divisionalapplication of application Serial Number 113,793 filed What is claimed is: v

1. In a device of the class described the combination of a tubular housing, a shaft extending through the housing, a ball bearing having an inner and an outer race, a second ball bearing having an inner and an outer race, means for securing the inner races of said bearings to the shaft, means for securing the outer race of one of said bearings to the housing, a'second shaft disposed at an angle to the first mentioned shaft, meshing bevel gears carried by said shafts, means for imparting rotation to the second mentioned shaft, means surrounding the first mentioned shaft for providing an oil well in the housing, an impeller disposed in the oil well and actuated by said first mentioned shaft whereby oil may be pumped into that portion of the housing containing the bevel gears for permitting the gears to splash oil one upon the other and on to the ball bearings.

2. A visible feed circulating lubricating mechanism for centrifugal pumps and the like comprising a vertical housing, a vertical shaft extending through said housing, a pair of ball bearings for the vertical shaft and each comprising an inner race secured to said shaft and outer race, the outer race of one of said ball bearings being secured to the hous-- ing, a second shaft disposed at right angles to the first mentioned shaft and extending through the housing, a pair'of ball bearings comprising inner and outer races and having the inner races thereof secured to said second shaft, intermeshing bevel gears on the first and second mentioned shafts, a sleeve surrounding the vertical shaft and secured interiorly of the housing for providing an oil well therein, a second shouldered sleeve secured to the shaft and surrounding the first mentioned sleeve, an impellercarried by the second mentioned sleeve and rotatable in the lubricant Well, a pipe having its lower end disposed adjacent the impeller and having its upper end disposed adjacent the bevel gear on the second mentioned shaft for directing a lubricant pumped by the impeller through the pipe to said last mentioned bevel gear whereby the lubricant may be distributed over the gears and bearings by the rotation of. said bevel gear, and a transparent member comprising an outer wall portion for the lubricant well. J

3. In a device of the class described the combination of a hollow housing, a shaft extending longitudinally through said housing, a shoulder on the. housing adjacent the upper end of the shaft, a ball bearing on the upper end of the shaft and having an outer race secured to the shoulder in the housing, a bevel gear on said shaft abutting the inner race of said bearing, a sleeve on the shaft abutting the gear, a shoulder on the shaft, a second ball bearing having an'inner race disposed intermediate'th'e shoulder'on the shaft and'the' sleeve, andmeans on the first mentioned end of the shaft for-locking the partstogether described the v of said bearing,asleeve on the shaft abutting:

the'gear, a shoulderxon the shaft, a second ball bearing having an i inner race disposed;

intermediate the shoulderon the; shaft and the sleeve, means on the first mentioned end of the shaftcfor locking the parts to etherwfor rotation with theshaft, a hollon ifanged 1 re:-

taining member. secured to the-housing, a

second shaft extending through said retaining member, a shoulder on the end of said;

shaft, a bevel gear'secured'dn abutment with said shoulder. and meshingwithf the gear'on the firstmentioned shaft, ball bearings on the second mentioned shaft,'a sleeve-member in terposedzbetween theinner 'races of said ball bearings,.a hollow pulley overhanging-themes. taining member, a flanged hub on the pulley abutting the innerirace of one of the, ball bearings on the shaft, and means on: the end of the shaft for -locking=-the pulleyyball gbearings, and gear totlie'shaft. 7

5. Ina kIeYiEe of-the class described the combination of a vertical housing, a vertical shaft in said housing, complementary bearing means. whereby said shaft is rotatably and vertically suspended within the housing, a sleeve secured interiorly of the housing,

surrounding the shaft and providing anannular oil ,well in the housing, a tube having its lower end in open communication with the oil well and'its upper end opening above the said complementary shaft bearing, and an impeller structure fixed on the. shaft and depending into the oil-well.

6. In a device of the class described the combination of a tubular housing having an annular oil reservoir, a shaft extending through the housing and reservoir, bearings for the shaft disposed in the housing above thereservoir, a tube communicating at its opposite ends with the reservoir and the housing above one of said bearings and an impeller carried by the shaft and depending into the annular reservoir.

7. In combination,;a hollow housing hav ing an annular reservoir therein, a tubular member within the housing forming an inner wall for the reservoir, a shaft extending through the housing and tubular member, bearings for the shaft above the tubular member, an inverted sleeve. surrounding the tubular member and secured to the shaft, a tube extending from the reservoir upwardly to one of the bearings'and-irnpeller means carried by the sleeve for pumping liquid from the reservoir to the bearing. 8. In a pulley drive structure for vertical 5 pumps and the like'the combination of an upright housing'having an opening, in the side wall, a pair of ball bearings disposed one above and one below the opening and each having the outer race thereof fixed on the 10 housing, a vertical shaft having the inner races of said ball bearings fixed thereto and' rotatably suspended in the housing by said bearings, a gear on the Vertical shaft, a short shaft, a shoulderon one end of the shaft, a 15 gear on the short shaft abutting the shoulder,

a pair of spaced ball bearings and an interposedsleeve on said shaft, a hollow projecting member receiving the ball bearings therein with the outer races of the bearings freely r0- 20 tatable uponthe inner wall of the hollow projecting member, a hollow pulley having a hub portion extending through the hollow project i-ng member and abutting theinner race of one of said ball bearings, securing means on V 2 the free end of said short shaft for binding the gear, inner races of the bearings, sleeve and pulley together for rotation as a unit and means to mount the hollow projecting member over the opening in the housing with 0 the gear thereon engaging the gear on the vertical shaft.

In testimony whereof I have. hereunto subscribed my name this 2nd day of June, 1928. EDWARDJ. RUTHMAN. 

